America: The Power to Assassinate a Compliant and Submissive People
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By Jacob G. Hornberger
President Obama’s
nomination of John Brennan is being held up over Brennan’s refusal to
state whether the president’s power to assassinate Americans (and
others) extends to American soil. The controversy is summed up in a great article by Glenn Greenwald.
The fact that Brennan could
not bring himself to immediately say that the president doesn’t have
the power to assassinate Americans (and others) right here within the
United States is revealing. He undoubtedly knows that the president does
claim to wield such power and that the president just doesn’t want to
alarm Americans by informing them that he now wields the power to
assassinate anyone he wants, including Americans here in the United
States.
I can’t see how there’s any
room for doubt here. Ever since President Bush claimed extraordinary
powers after the 9/11 attacks, we here at The Future of Freedom
Foundation have been pointing out that the powers were not limited to
foreigners or to foreign lands. When U.S. forces, both military and CIA,
were kidnapping people, torturing them, and incarcerating them without
trial, we kept emphasizing that such powers were not limited to
foreigners. By following the logic employed by Bush and his associates,
it was clear that those extraordinary powers extended to Americans as
well, both abroad and here at home.
But all too many Americans
comforted themselves by thinking that those extraordinary powers applied
only to foreigners and that the powers were necessary to keep them
“safe.” Therefore, they endorsed what was going on with much enthusiasm,
simply blocking out of their minds that they were also endorsing the
most revolutionary change in the relationship between the federal
government and the American citizenry in U.S. history.
Then came the case of Jose
Padilla. He was an American who was accused of conspiracy to commit
terrorism. Rather than have him indicted and then prosecute him in
federal court, the feds whisked him away to a military dungeon, where
the Pentagon tortured him and threatened to keep him incarcerated for
the rest of his life as an “enemy combatant” in the “war on terrorism.”
We took a leading role in
opposing that extraordinary exercise of military supremacy over the
American citizenry. We continually pointed out that what they did to
Padilla, if upheld, they could then do to all other Americans. But
because Padilla was not the most sympathetic character in the world, all
too many Americans were happy over what the feds were doing to him,
blocking out of their minds that the feds could now do the same thing to
all other Americans.
And sure enough, the
federal courts, in the fear-ridden environment of post-9/11, upheld what
the president and the Pentagon did to Padilla, which means that they
can now do the same to every American — and some 12 years after the 9/11
attacks!
And now we have the
president’s assassination program, in which the president, along with
his military and CIA, now wield the power to assassinate anyone they
want, no questions asked. They’ve already killed countless foreigners as
well as at least three Americans, including a 16-year-old boy. They do
it all in secret and are not required to answer any questions as to who
they have assassinated or why. Their power to kill people is omnipotent.
Do they claim the power to
assassinate Americans right here at home? How can there be any doubt
about it? From the very beginning, they simply converted a standard
federal crime — terrorism — into an act of war. They called it “the war
on terrorism,” and said that this war was just like World Wars I and II.
They said that in war, they have the right to take captives, torture
them, and execute illegal enemy combatants, and also to assassinate the
enemy.
They also said that this
war would go on forever or for at least the lifetimes of everyone living
today, given that there were so many terrorists in the world. As part
of that war, the president, the military, and the CIA would have to
assume extraordinary powers, they said, ones that were inherent to the
most extreme dictatorships in history.
Significantly, they
repeatedly emphasized that in this war, the battlefield wasn’t limited
to the Middle East or surrounding regions. Instead, in this war the
entire world constituted the battlefield. That, of course, included the
United States.
Thus, it didn’t take a
rocket scientist to draw the logical conclusion — whatever extraordinary
powers were being exercised against foreign “enemy combatants” in the
“war on terrorism” could be applied against people right here on
American soil, including Americans.
Of course, as we have also
been pointing out since 9/11, the entire matter is just one great big
sham and fraud. They took a federal criminal offense — terrorism — and
used it a ruse to claim that America was now “at war” and then claimed
extreme dictatorial powers in the process. It would be no different if
the president used another federal war — the “war on drugs” — as a ruse
to assume extraordinary dictatorial powers, such as the power to kidnap,
torture, execute, and assassinate suspected drug users and dealers.
Our American ancestors
tried their best to prevent this dictatorial nonsense. That’s why they
used the Constitution to bring into existence a government of limited,
enumerated powers. Notice that the dictatorial powers claimed by Bush
and Obama are not among those enumerated powers. To make sure that
federal officials got the point, our ancestors demanded the enactment of
four separate amendments to the Constitution — the 4th, 5th, 6th, and
8th Amendments. Those amendments stated that with respect to federal
crimes, people would be guaranteed the protections of criminal
indictments, due process of law, trial by jury, freedom from cruel and
unusual punishments, and other protections.
And there is another
important thing to note about those four amendments. Notice that the
protections and guarantees apply to people in general, not just to
Americans. That’s because our ancestors understood that justice requires
that the rules apply to everyone equally, not one set of rules for
foreigners and another set of rules for Americans. Thus, under our
system of justice, President Obama has no right to be assassinating
anyone or torturing anyone or incarcerating anyone without due process
of law and trial by jury.
And it must be emphasized:
terrorism is, in fact, a federal crime. That’s why they ultimately made
Padilla a criminal defendant. That’s why terrorism is listed in the U.S.
Code as a criminal offense. That’s why they have terrorism cases in
federal court all the time. The truth is that there is no real war and
there has never been one, any more than there has been a real war in the
“war on drugs.” After all, how is the enemy supposed to surrender in
this “war”? Where are the transport ships bringing invading troops to
America? Where are the supply lines?
And let’s not forget
something else of equal importance — the only reason that people are
killing U.S. troops over there is because they’re over there interfering
with the affairs of other countries. That’s what the killing is all
about on both sides —not because people are trying to conquer America
and enslave Americans but simply because they want the U.S. government,
especially the U.S. military and CIA, out of their countries. And the
more the Pentagon and the CIA continue to kill people in the process,
the more they generate an endless supply of terrorists, which they then
use to perpetuate their dictatorial powers. As I have long pointed out, the U.S. government is the greatest terrorist-producing machine in history.
It’s all been a sham, a
fraud, and a ruse to enable the U.S. national-security state to adopt
the same powers of dictatorship that it has long supported and trained,
such as Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, the military dictatorships in
Guatemala, the Shah’s dictatorship in Iran, Mubarak’s dictatorship in
Egypt, and many more.
But Brennan shouldn’t been
concerned about alarming Americans about Obama’s power to assassinate
them on American soil. As we have learned since 9/11, the American
people are among the most compliant, cooperative, and submissive people
on the planet. All the feds have to do is say that they are doing it to
keep them safe, and except for libertarians and (a few liberals and
conservatives), unfortunately all too many Americans continue to fall
for anything and agree to anything the government wants to do to them.
Jacob G. Hornberger
is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was
born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics
from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University
of Texas.
